And the Winner is?

In this day of competitive sports and politics it seems that the most important thing to anyone is winning. My beloved Longhorns have one losing season since 1997 and somebody has to get fired. Losing is not tolerated! A coach is only as good as his last game and if he has a few bad games those record good years are quickly forgotten and out he goes. I wonder how many of us could stand up to the same level of scrutiny in our own professions?

Politics is much the same. The last two election cycles are a perfect example of this. In 2008 the sentiment of the country was to throw the bums out, the bums being the Republicans. The Democrats were handed comfortable majorities in both houses of congress and the "Messiah" was elected as president. The Democrats immediately began working their magic giving us Obama Care, Stimulus I, and other wonderful programs. So we got mad and threw those bums out, this time being the Democrats. Seems a little schizophrenic, doesn't it?

This brings us to the present day. A lame duck Congress is like a pen of hogs trying to suck down that last drop of slop before they are taken to the slaughter house. They know this is their last opportunity and they are trying to play it for all it's worth. The mandate of the last election is being ignored by both parties and, like the New Year's dieter, they are going to binge between now and the end of the year and get "serious" on January 5th when the 112th Congress takes over. Both houses past the extension of the Bush tax cuts for two years, and extension of unemployment benefits to almost 3 years, and a reduction of the Social Security taxes for a year. They also want to pass much more liberal legislation between now and the end of the year at a cost only God can envision.

They just don't get it! This country is BROKE!!!!! We do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. They all think we can spend our way out of this problem. Tax breaks for everything under the sun may stimulate economic growth but unless you couple that with significant cuts in government spending we will never balance the budget or reduce the debt. The way they want to deal with it is to do what is politically expedient and popular rather than what is fiscally sane. The Democrats want to make everybody happy with government spending while the Republicans favor tax cuts. Both are wrong and criminally negligent of their responsibilities. It's time they and we grow up and cut up the credit card! Time to face the music and begin the process of reducing the national debt. Adding $1.5 trillion to it each year is definitely not the answer.

And, of course, I can help. All spending needs to be put on the table for cuts, no exceptions. It's time we quit subsidizing the defense of the world through our treasury. The reason why we are the only military superpower is because the rest of the world refuses to pay for it. It's like we are in a drinking contest with a teetotaler. We are the only ones paying or playing. The purpose of the U.S. military should be to defend the U.S. While we are flitting around butting into every backyard squabble around the world our country is leaving its flanks open with its porous borders. A re-focus of priorities is past due and a minimum of a 25% reduction in defense spending is in order.

Secondly, entitlements need to be reviewed, reduced and eliminated where possible. We are rapidly becoming a country where the majority of our citizens are not invested in their government. They pay no income tax and, in many cases, get most of their Social Security taxes back in the form of earned income tax credits. We are now going to pay people not to work for up to 3 years. These folks are making no contribution, just sucking the resources from an empty bucket. As these non productive people gain more influence by shear numbers they have no problem in taking the fruits of the producers to continue to pay for their benefits.

Speaking of entitlements, the Holy Grail, Social Security, needs to be revamped. There is no argument that the system is more generous than we can afford and that benefits need to be reduced, eligibility reviewed and, God forbid, taxes increased. The entire program has been distorted, including people it was never intended to, and there is no way to pay for it going forward.

So the Republicans take over in House in January and decrease the majority in the Senate. Obama is scrambling for his political life and barring a massive case of amnesia we will vote his tired butt out in 2012. Realistically we are looking at gridlock for the next two years with a lot of finger pointing going on for the next election. I prefer gridlock to the misguided actions of the past two years. I'm not sure either party has the will to do what is right but the Republicans are saying the right things. Only time will tell.

So maybe we can come up with a new definition of winning, politically speaking. A win should be leaving the country in better shape than you found it. Improving the fiscal condition of our country should be the number one priority. With this in mind why do we keep giving the keys to the vault to this bunch of losers?